Bottle Bottoms Colored Glass

Remember Straw Hat Pizza front doors from back in the day?

Going to the pizza parlor on Friday nights was one of the highlights from my tween years. I was just old enough to tag along with my older sisters if I stayed quiet and cool enough. It took a few hours to get ready, to get that 80’s hair just right, all my swatch watches up my wrist to match the scrunchies in my pony in sequential order. This was big deal stuff.

Besides walking the parking lot to see cute boys driving their low-riders, vintage trucks, or hoopties, playing a game of pinball, or pool…..what I remember most was the entry door to the Straw Hat Pizza Parlor.  

I know, I know…..crazy right? All that action going on...all those people and social awkwardness and I’m looking at stained glass made from the bottoms of beer bottles thinking….I want one of those! I want to make that! HOW do I make that? 

I tried my hand at stained glass while my babes were babes~ but there was so much glass!! And Lead!! And Soldering!! None of these things matched up with keeping children safe, so I had to work in the wee hours, clean completely up, and try to pick back up when I had my next energy burst. I completed 2 projects, and still store a bin of supplies in the hopeful category of the garage. Quilting was safer, I could still work with color, and I could leave my mess lying around the house. Quilting has remained my medium of choice for creating. It brings me joy to create with color and play with shapes and designs. I enjoy the thought of the people I love wrapped up in one of my creations dreaming sweet dreams knowing they are loved.

Colored Glass was my original inspiration. The door at Straw Hat Pizza is a ping memory of mine. A small clue to the joy that colored glass brings to me. I love how the light shines through, how the colors contrast with each other. I even enjoy the space between….how it creates a border to allow each piece of glass to shine. It's clever how each piece of glass serves its purpose in the overall design to create a desired image. Exactly like our lives! Each moment, each person, each breath, creates the story of our lives. These memories in our hearts shine through at unexpected moments reminding us of our joys and struggles, revealing the ultimate piece of art.......the image of ourselves.